A New Airlock Approach for Human Exploration

Conceptual design work on the First Lunar Outpost (FLO) mission led to the development of an airlock concept called the `doorlock' which appears quite promising for all aspects of manned exploration, including planetary surface exploration and orbiting space stations. The doorlock concept is a single-crew conformal airlock that promises to greatly reduce airlock system mass on manned exploration missions with minimal impact on extra-vehicular activity (EVA) operations. The doorlock has additional advantages of low cost, reduced power usage, and reduced launch packaging requirements. This paper summarizes past conceptual work and trade studies, presents a detailed structural analysis, and shows current full-scale engineering development unit (mock-up) activities.